Photo: Silver Dovelet · CC BY-SA 4.0Few places are as safe from hazards as Vinegar Hill: it beats 88% of Canadian towns
Wildfire isn’t Vinegar Hill’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.001% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Vinegar Hill as in most places, at $0.034 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is lower than usual: 0% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Vinegar Hill a grade of A; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Vinegar Hill’s hazards
For Vinegar Hill, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Vinegar Hill faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Vinegar Hill: A
Two inputs always count for Vinegar Hill, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #165 of 866 in Ontario and #484 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Vinegar Hill has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Vinegar Hill’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Fire claims 0.001% of the land around Vinegar Hill each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
Vinegar Hill’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 6.9 km away.
Homes in Vinegar Hill sit on open or built-up ground (2.5% forest fuel within 5 km); the wider 25 km holds 7.1%.
Shares of land within 5 and 25 km of populated blocks: burned at least once in 1986–2025 (CWFIS burned-area composite), forest fuel and grass (fire behaviour fuel types, 2026, 250 m grid).
Burn rate a year, towns in Ontario · highest of 871
Sioux Lookout burns fastest in Ontario at 0.16% a year; Vinegar Hill, at 0.001%, ranks 83rd of 871.
Each bar: the yearly average share of land within 25 km of a town’s homes that burned, 1986–2025 (CWFIS); the seven highest towns of 2,500 people or more.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Vinegar Hill stays low, with 92%.
Bands of the yearly burn rate: low under 0.05%, moderate under 0.25%, high under 1%, very high 1% or more; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System: National Burned Area Composite 1986–2025 and fire behaviour fuel types (2026), Natural Resources Canada. Measured within 25 km and 5 km of each populated dissemination area; past fire, not a forecast.
2 flood studies cover Vinegar Hill, the newest from Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Vinegar Hill: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
2 studies on the inventory touch Vinegar Hill, the newest Toronto Regional Conservation Authority’s from 2021, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Floodline Consolidation | Toronto Regional Conservation Authority | 2021 | final |
| Unionville Special Policy Area | Toronto and Region Conservation Authority | 2019 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Vinegar Hill with 69% of towns in Ontario; Canada’s share is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
No single decade dominates: 2 studies for Vinegar Hill between the 2010s and the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Vinegar Hill.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Vinegar Hill.
The inventory’s own caution (NRCan): “The Canada Flood Map (CFM) does not include every flood hazard map in Canada and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. It should not be relied upon as the official source of flood mapping information. Furthermore, if a map appears to be missing, this does not necessarily mean that the area has never been mapped. For the official version of a map, updated information, or confirmation of applicable regulations, please contact the local authority responsible for flood mapping.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Ordinary seismic risk in Vinegar Hill: $0.034 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Vinegar Hill’s ground: $0.034 against a typical $0.030, 1.1 times.
Figures for earthquake risk are published for the city of Markham as a whole, not for Vinegar Hill alone.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.034, Vinegar Hill is below the typical town in Ontario ($0.043); Alexandria is highest at $0.21.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 46% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Vinegar Hill.
Each column: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more in that range of yearly loss per $1,000 (NRCan, 2022).
For Vinegar Hill the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs low around Vinegar Hill: 0% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Vinegar Hill’s area, at 0%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Ontario (4%), the area around Vinegar Hill has fewer high tests: 0%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Vinegar Hill is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% have more.
Each bar: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more whose survey area had that share of tests over 200 Bq/m³.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Vinegar Hill’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the York Regional Health Unit
Where to get warnings in Vinegar Hill
Alerts for Vinegar Hill come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| Alert | What it means |
|---|---|
| Warning | Severe weather is happening or about to: act now. |
| Watch | Conditions favour severe weather: be ready. |
| Advisory | Weather that is less severe but could disrupt the day. |
| Special weather statement | Unusual weather worth knowing about. |
| Special air quality statement | Poor air, often wildfire smoke. |
Evacuation orders for Vinegar Hill come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Vinegar Hill’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vinegar Hill | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Box Grove 25,496 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Hagerman's Corners 43,555 · 2.6 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Milliken 24,431 · 3.2 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Markham Village 10,319 · 3.8 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Underwood 5,972 · 4.1 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | None listed |
| Agincourt North 27,790 · 4.4 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
Nowhere around Vinegar Hill burns more: Box Grove, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Vinegar Hill faces
What to do about the hazards Vinegar Hill faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Test for three months in winter.
- Over 200 Bq/m³: fix it.
- Kits are cheap; pros test too.
- Never drive through floodwater.
- Move papers and medicines upstairs.
- Ask whether your street is mapped.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Vinegar Hill takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Vinegar Hill’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Vinegar Hill.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Vinegar Hill, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Vinegar Hill
Is radon a problem in Vinegar Hill?
In Health Canada’s survey, 0% of 95 homes tested in Vinegar Hill’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Vinegar Hill at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Vinegar Hill has burned since 1986, the last in 2001, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Vinegar Hill flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Vinegar Hill; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Vinegar Hill?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Vinegar Hill $0.034 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Vinegar Hill’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Vinegar Hill grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Seismic risk: Natural Resources Canada. Radon: Health Canada. Wildfire: Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. Flood studies: Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
Sources: NRCan, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model 2022 · Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes · CWFIS, National Burned Area Composite and FBP fuel types · NRCan, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).